So the bike basically fell over and the bike shop totalled up everything they could think of until it's a write off. That's an outrage. You had case guards so how could the clutch cover, ignition cover be damaged? I can see in the photo that they aren't. I'm guessing the muffler was lightly scratched, if at all. Doubt the tank had much if any damage also. And I'm skeptical about the master cylinder. Why "total" a bike over a little minor cosmetic damage? Where is common sense and honesty?

Over the years I've been hit from behind like that twice. In both cases I just dealt with the minor damage myself and kept the insurance companies the heck out of it.

The problem with avoiding an insurance claim in this case was the car that hit me was a rental vehicle and not the driver's personal car. The car rental company would have to report it to insurance as there was some damage to the car, so I'd have been brought into it anyway.

I notice you have left out any mention of your counter espionage undercover work. Insurance companies do not cover motorcycles damaged while saving the world, do they. Riding will always give you a certain level of enjoyment that you really can't get from anything else. Keep up the good work.

Glad you're ok, Dennis. It sounds to me like the cager did you a favor by moving you on to your next bike.

One tip if you ever crash with your g/f on board: after the sliding and tumbling is over, run to your girlfriend first, then go and look at the bike. Getting these steps in the wrong order really puts a dent in your sex life for a while.

Glad you're ok, Dennis. It sounds to me like the cager did you a favor by moving you on to your next bike.

One tip if you ever crash with your g/f on board: after the sliding and tumbling is over, run to your girlfriend first, then go and look at the bike. Getting these steps in the wrong order really puts a dent in your sex life for a while.

DAMHIK

But there's much less chance of flammable fuel spilling out of a g/f than a motorcycle. I hope...

__________________
"The trouble with the world is that the Stupid are c0cksure and the Intelligent are full of doubt." -Bertrand Russell

This piece would have been much more useful if you'd suggested how you might have avoided the accident in the first place. Test-end accidents are a minority of motorcycle crashes (less than 20%) and the rider is rarely at fault, but a Sharp rider can still act to avoid them.

The writer of this story is trying to understand the place motorcycles have on the road, but he's new, and still missing some crucial points. I'm old, but still here.

He was driving in the curb lane. Never, drive in the curb lane if you have any other options.

I bought my first bike (Yamaha 305 'big bear') when I was 15. I sold my last bike, a 'cafe-ed' Honda CX 500 when I got married, age 50. In between I had a wonderful 650 Yamaha, a Norton 850 'Interstate', and a couple of dirt bikes. I traveled from Ottawa, Ont., Canada to Guatemala City and back. I drove across Canada. In the '90's', I lived in Costa Rica, Central America. When I could afford it, I'd rent a bike (Suzuki 350 single) and cruise the coastal roads and the beaches.

My wife is a general surgeon, she calls motorcycles, 'donor cycles' because bike accidents contribute donor organs to the medical system.

I sold the Honda 500, (I loved that bike) as a condition of marriage. Ironically and since then, my wife and I visited the Barber Motorsports facility, just East of Birmingham, AL. Anyone with an interest in motorcycles that isn't familiar with that place, should look it up. They have an example of almost every bike ever built, and almost all of them are in working condition. They have a state of the art race track, and they pull the old bikes out and run them around.

Anyway, during our visit through the museum, I pointed out a '68, Triumph Daytona 500. I said, "Laura, you haven't lived until you've been on a Triumph, over a twisty road on a Sunday afternoon. (The Norton was really the way to go but I was selling her, and had t make concessions) Further, I said, " This bike only makes about 32 hp on a good day, and has a top speed of 75 mph. One day I'll get one. Don't be afraid.

She nodded her head, indicating that one day we might do that. We won't drive downtown during rush hour, and we will stay on the portion of the road that has the least traffic.

It was a two-lane road, each direction, but the right lane was occupied by parked cars, so traffic was reduced to the single, left lane. What I probably should have done was be more aware of traffic behind me, but I suppose I was fixated on the car that had emerged from the side street.

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